Left Hand of Darkness Film in the Works

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Set to become feature film & videogame.

By KJB

Phobos Entertainment has picked up the rights to Ursula K. Le Guin's classic science fiction novel The Left Hand of Darkness.

Left Hand is set on a lost planet, a planet that has bred a society that defies traditional gender roles, even physically changing genders as they need to (sounds like some some AOL chatrooms). A human emissary lands on the planet in an attempt to bridge the cultural gap and bring the planet back into galactic society. The novel, written in 1969, used these ambisexual aliens to explore the human perception of sexuality and gender and is every bit as relevant today as it was over 40 years ago.

In addition to the feature film, producer Sandra Schulberg (Quills, Undisputed; founder of Phobos) also plans to create a videogame based on the Hugo and Nebula award winning novel. Other forms of media exploitation may follow.

Le Guinn is on something of a hot streak at the moment. The Sci-Fi Channel broadcast a mini-series based upon Le Guinn's Earthsea books this weekend. Another Le Guin novel, Lathe of Heaven has been adapted for television twice, both times garnering well deserved praise from critics and the audience.

Phobos Entertainment and Phobos Books were founded in 2001. Since then, the company has produced one film for the Sci-Fi Channel, Graveland, which will air sometime in 2005. The company has also published two novels and four short story collections.